Kevin Smith goes vegetarian after heart attack

After performing the first of two scheduled live stand-up shows last Sunday night, filmmaker, comic book writer, and actor Kevin Smith suffered a near-fatal heart attack. A week later, in his first Facebook post after breaking the news of the heart attack, Smith revealed that he was recovering at home from the hospital, and also that he was in his second day as a vegetarian.

The vegetarian shift is apparently a reaction to the heart attack, and it does not sound like the diet change will be the only lifestyle alteration Smith is facing. In the Facebook post where he announced what had happened and explained why he had canceled last Sunday's second show, Smith said he'd had a 100-percent blockage of his LAD artery, which is also called "the Widow-Maker." He was lucky to survive, and wrote, "This is all a part of my mythology now and I'm sure I'll be facing some lifestyle changes (maybe it's time to go Vegan)."

Many of Smith's fans have been replying with their support for a plant-based diet. Several said they'd switched from an omnivorous diet to a vegetarian or vegan one, and said going vegetarian wasn't as hard as it might sound. Still other fans said Smith's heart attack was a wake-up call for them to start thinking about their own health, whether that means changes to diet, exercise or other factors. For anyone considering switching to a plant-based diet, check out these 7 easy recipes to help you go vegan.